America’s national forestsVideo available online. A new documentary film about the many wonders of
national forests and the threats they face is now available online. This nine-minute
DVD is an excellent introduction to national forests and is a resource for educators
and citizens interested in the environment and the clean water, wildlife and
recreation our forests provide.

AskFAO is a service driven by user information needs, providing answers
to queries related to the Organization’s areas of expertise. Working
with FAO offices around the world as well as with our partner organizations,
it provides a mechanism to communicate directly with technical experts
in a particular field of interest.

COMFORPTS has recorded 4 100 species in its database. The database provides detailed information on 70 parameters, such as morphology, phenology, cultivation details, harvesting, post-harvest processing, silviculture requirements and characteristics, types of forest import-export statistics, policy and legal issues and pests and diseases. With the help of this database, users can retrieve exhaustive information on any NTFP-related species based on these parameters.

The PLANTS database is maintained by the United States Department of Agriculture National Resources Conservation Service and provides information and generates reports in specialized areas. It provides standardized information about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts and lichens of the United States and its territories. It includes names, plant symbols, checklists, distributional data, species abstracts, characteristics, images, plant links, references, crop information and automated tools.

Which countries have the highest forest cover? Which countries are the major consumers and producers of forest products? How many people depend on drugs derived from forest plants? How much deforestation contributes to global greenhouse gas emissions? How many countries have less than 10 percent forest cover? The annual deforestation rate in the world? How many people are employed in the formal forestry sector worldwide? The total number of mountain people worldwide? What percentage of bioenergy accounts for the energy consumed worldwide? Find out the answers to these questions and many others at:

Sixtieth Anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

In “historic archives” you will find rarely heard statements and interviews of former FAO Directors-General, Heads of State and Government, Nobel Prize winners and other eminent world personalities who have marked the history of the Organization, since its founding in 1945 (Quebec City, Canada), from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Pope John Paul II.

The FAO forestry photos database contains more than 1 000 forestry-related images searchable by such fields as country, region, keyword, caption, human and forestry content and photographer. A simple free text search is also available, which searches all text in the record. A useful thumbnail feature enables users to browse the contents rapidly. Photos can be easily downloaded in high resolution for print and in lower resolution for use on the Web.